One Way Ticket to the Fields of Punishment
by artemisdevotee
Summary: Luke wakes up after a party at camp and reflects on why he's bound for Hell, and why it's worth it. The story continues with suspicions, rumors, and more awkward situations.
1. Ticket

**Me: Hey, here's another 'Luke is back' story!**

**Everyone else: Temi, not again!**

**Me: Yes! Again!**

**Everyone else: And he's with Annabeth in this one?!**

**Me: Yes! *braces self for flames* But don't flame the pairing please. Flame the writing if you have to!**

**Everyone else: Here we go again…**

**Me: Oh, and by the way, I'm not Rick Riordan.**

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Typical. Typical half-blood story. Die a hero, come back from the dead at the request of your father, and seal your fate a year later.

Luke wondered if it was enough to send him to the Fields of Punishment. Maybe. Athena would probably personally arrange it. It definitely was enough to send him to the Special Hell from that TV show she liked so much. He ran through possible excuses in his head, though none seemed good enough. He couldn't even claim he'd been drunk.

True, he had been buzzed, but not completely drunk. He had just drunk enough to override his common sense. If he'd been completely sober, he would have been able to control himself. He would have reasoned that she was too young, that she was Percy's, that her brothers would have his guts, not to mention her father, with his super special weaponry. However, the part of his brain that usually did the reasoning had taken an extended vacation with the next beer.

He'd been shocked when she didn't slap him or push him away. He kept waiting for her to run away, to tell him to stop. He would have. Instead, she turned into a ragdoll and followed him into the spare bedroom on the second floor of the Big House. No one had seen them leave; the party was too loud and distracting.

Luke never dreamed he'd be in that position. He never thought he would lie there next to her, feeling nervous about the consequences, feeling guilty about her being only seventeen, and feeling victorious that it was he who was in bed with her and not Percy. He knew he probably ruined their friendship. He cared about that, but it just might have been worth it. He wondered if he had hurt her. Oh Gods, he would never forgive himself if he had.

She shifted in her sleep and hugged him closer to her. He smiled and stroked her hair.

"Are they looking for us yet?" She mumbled, snuggling into his chest. He started. He hadn't known she was awake. He swallowed.

"Maybe. I'm in for it." He groaned. She laughed softly.

"Probably. Sorry."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing. This is wrong on how many levels?"

"Three, according to sexual harassment laws."

Damn. He hadn't expected a straight answer. Even if he wasn't going to the Fields of Punishment or the Special Hell, he could sure as heck go to jail. Annabeth seemed to notice his discomfort.

"Don't worry. You can't be arrested for something no one knows about."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Should we get dressed and see if your brothers have torn apart camp looking for you?" Luke joked.

"You need a good alibi first." She reasoned.

"An alibi? How about…I got drunk and got lost in the woods, and you…were just in the attic, looking at all of the mementos…?"

"Or we could tell the truth."

"…I take it you don't like my ingenious alibi."

"Not really."

"We could…say we were there all the time and just got up early to clean up the party mess."

"That might work."

"Did a plan of mine just get approval from a daughter of Athena?"

She laughed. "Maybe." He waited for her to get out of bed so he could be polite and shut his eyes while she got dressed. She stayed curled next to him.

"Are you getting out of bed?"

"Do I have to?" She mumbled.

"Shouldn't you?"

"Are you kicking me out?" She asked sleepily, tightening her grip around his chest. He groaned.

"As much as I would love to lie here all day, doll, I don't want to be hung, drawn and quartered, and brought back from the dead to be killed again by your siblings when they find us naked in bed together."

"Do you think they'll spare you if I pout?"

"I don't know. Can you still pull off puppy dog eyes?" He asked, referring to her skill at the expression when they were running away. She demonstrated for him that yes, she could. He sighed. "You know, I would love to have round two, but I think I'm late for the sword fighting class I have to teach."

"Round two sounds good to me." Annabeth said innocently. Luke stared at her. Any other day if he was late to a class, she would have kicked him and told him to get on schedule, but today…

"I thought you said you didn't love me like this." He said incredulously. She shrugged.

"I might have lied."

"So what do you say we go for it again and then go and try to talk our way out of it."

"I like that."

Luke grinned at her and shifted his weight.

"Tell me if anything hurts."

"I will."

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**Oh dear. They might have some explaining to do with Percy later…Please review**


	2. Fear

**Again, I don't own Percy Jackson…as much as I would love to.**

**Okay, so this chapter is all over the place and convoluted and whatnot. Help, I would like it much. Chiron is really difficult for me to write for some reason, so if anyone has tips…**

**But anyway, here we have some aftermath and some interrogation, and some 'Luke-being-scared.' **

**Enjoy!**

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Alma Niccolo, non descript, middle daughter of Apollo, had a moral dilemma.

Of course, she had already made her decision, and that was why she was headed to Chiron.

Alma had sharp eyes. Everyone told her that. She caught the little nicks in her brother's guitar from where he hit it against the case latches every night after he put it away. She caught every time her sister misspelled the word 'love' as 'loev' in her poems.

So of course when Luke Castellan stumbled, (yawning), out of the Big House the morning after a particularly wild party, an hour late for his sword fighting class that he had to teach, his shirt buttoned wrong by two buttons, his hair sticking up in bizarre directions, and a strange look around him like he was trying to suppress a large grin, of course Alma had to sneak around and find out what was going on.

Luke Castellan was not a lazy person, she knew. He was usually up at six or seven in the morning, training or sparring or teaching or something. As far as Alma knew, he also didn't normally sleep in the big house. Alma was not one wont for stalking or creepering, but she had nothing to do for the whole morning, so she stayed to watch the Big House, just to see if anything else happened.

She was rewarded five minutes later when Annabeth Chase walked out of the same door of the Big House, her hair tangled, and her shirt inside out.

And if Alma couldn't draw the right conclusions of a situation like that, no one could.

So now, two days later after mulling it over, she was heading for Chiron. Just to clarify some things.

It wasn't that she was tattling, per say. Oh no, she liked both Luke and Annabeth well enough. They were nice people. She was just curious about camp policies. And she was also pretty sure that Chiron needed at least a little hint as to what one of his best counselors was up to.

"Chiron?" Alma called as she pushed open the Big House door.

"Who's there?" Chiron emerged from an adjacent room and smiled when he saw Alma. "Is everything alright? No one's been hurt, have they?"

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. Well…I don't know. I have a question or two." She said nervously. Chiron placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her into the other room, where she sat down at the table.

"What kind of pressing question did you have, child?" Chiron asked, concerned. Alma took a deep breath.

"What kind of policies do we have at camp about counselor/camper relationships?" Alma said quickly, stumbling over her words. Chiron started and frowned.

"What kind of relationship? Alma, what do you mean?"

"Uh…I have a different question."

"Will this make the previous question clearer?" Chiron asked, still looking bewildered. Alma shrugged.

"I guess so." She paused and took a deep breath. "Uhm…how do I say this? Does camp have any rules about…" Alma slapped the table. "Are there any camp rules about sex?" She asked bluntly. Chiron's eyebrows shot up.

"Well, it's never cropped up before. Well, I mean, it has, but I'm pretty sure that was only campers and your previous question…well."

"Well yeah." Alma suddenly realized why Chiron was acting so awkward. "This has nothing to do with me, so you don't have anything to worry about…with me."

"So who was it? Which counselor? Is it one of the better ones, or one of those troublemakers anyway? And the camper too. One of those ones that everyone always suspected?" Chiron frowned disapprovingly. "You do know the ones I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but it's not one of them. I mean-" Alma sighed. "Look, Chiron, I only saw them both walk out of the Big House after the party a couple nights ago…looking all distracted and…well, I assumed. I'm sorry if this is too much of a false alarm, but I really think—" Alma trailed off, looking up at Chiron nervously. He pursed his lips.

"If you ever want to actually tell me any solid facts about this possible problem, just come back to talk. I know you feel nervous and you want to keep your friends' secrets, but it would be the best for them. You know, I'm just saying this like any other adult, but I think it's true."

"Okay." Alma nodded and started to edge her way out of the room. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to tell Chiron everything she knew, and she was also starting to regret her decision to spill what little information she had.

Alma swiftly walked out of the Big House, red in the face and a slightly sick feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, Alma, what's up?" Someone behind her asked. Alma whirled around to see the last person on earth she wanted to see at the time.

"Hey Annabeth." She answered weakly. Annabeth seemed smily enough, but Alma could never tell with the daughter of Athena.

"Why weren't you at archery just now?" Annabeth asked, a bit concerned.

Shit. Alma forgot she had archery. So much for a free morning.

"Oh, I was talking with Chiron, you know, just confirming some rules."

"Is your cabin getting out of control?" Annabeth grinned. Alma laughed as convincingly as she could and ran away, leaving a very suspicious looking Annabeth watching her go.

Alma then decided: No more people watching after parties.

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Luke lived in fear now.

Sure, other half-bloods did too. They had to worry about monsters, and unhappy relatives, but he had more on his mind than the supernatural.

He had to worry about:

1.) Annabeth getting pregnant

2.) Athena deciding that anytime now would be a good time for punishment

3.) Dr. Chase. No explanation needed.

4.) Uh…the Stoll brothers. Because they probably knew, and even if they didn't, they were on his worry list anyway.

Now, Luke knew that Annabeth had enough common sense to remind him that those little rubber things in the packages were used for a reason, but there was always the chance that Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth might see something and take what they were doing the wrong way and magically break the condom or something.

And Luke wasn't so sure he was cut out for fatherhood.

And because of that feeling of unpreparedness, that was his biggest fear, but… you know; when he got in the moment, he kind of forgot to keep that fear in his head. His mind would be otherwise occupied, and there was enough to worry about.

So, Dr. Chase was probably the scariest thing on the list. Athena would have been, obviously, but as it had been about a month and she hadn't blasted Luke into oblivion yet, he was more wary of the Doc.

Not only did the man have like, three planes at his disposal, and knowledge to fly them, he also was in possession of a number of vintage and replica guns. Not only machine gun types, but those little pistols that Luke knew would be nice and quiet if he ever got shot with one. Also, if he was the father of a daughter of Athena, he was bound to be cold and calculating if ticked off.

And ticked off? If Doctor Chase even got wind of what Luke was doing to his precious daughter, Luke knew he was in for torture, under the guise of one of those man-to-man chats. Luke was wary of any man-to-man chat that was called, especially the one that Percy had initiated.

"Hey, Luke, can I talk to you?" Percy asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure Percy. Just let me clean up the straw from the dummies." Luke replied nervously, trying to remain calm. His mind went something like, '_fuck, this is not fucking good news. Fuck.'_

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"Fire away, man." Luke said, sweeping up the straw and not making any eye contact with Percy. _Damn it, _he thought, _damn it, he'll ask the big question about Annabeth, and then I'm done for._

"You know your old breastplate?"

"Yeah?" _He's just making normal conversation, then he'll ask, and then I'm dead…_

"Could I have it? I mean, if you aren't using it."

"Yeah." Luke's breath was ragged and he concentrated on leveling it. "Yeah, that's fine, Percy. Take it." He said, taking a deep breath. Percy gave him a funny, sideways look. _Here it comes, _Luke braced himself to lie, and to lie hard. _Here it comes…_

"Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah. I just…I have a headache."

"Oh. Well, feel better."

"Thanks." Luke managed to say as Percy left the arena. Luke waited until he was out of sight before stumbling to the lining benches and taking a break.

But the nervousness and guilt and regret? All worth it, Luke reminded himself. All worth it.

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**Ugg! My writing style was completely and totally awful this chapter. Please give me constructive criticism. I need it. **


	3. Father

**PJO n'est pas le mien. **

**LOL, the 'Sather' problem has been fixed, because Dr. Chase is obviously not an ****object-oriented programming language. Thanks to Skylark Meadow and Smileplz.**

**This is why I need a beta. *hint hint***

**So, am I supposed to be thanking everyone for their reviews? Because I noticed that a lot of authors do that…but I'm possibly one of the laziest authors ever…so…thanks to all of you lovely reviewers and those who put this story on their favorites and their 'follows' and such. ILY.**

**In case you were wondering, Luke is not the only returned dead person. Since I love all the characters, I have pulled all of them back. This includes Ethan, because he repented. Bianca is possibly chilling with the Hunters, but she might still be dead. There is a possibility Thalia comes back to camp, because I think her main reason for joining the Hunters was the whole Prophecy thing. We'll see.**

**Lastly, a big special thanks to all you Percabeth shippers who are reading and leaving nice reviews. I really appreciate it. You are AWESOME.**

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The only problem with having a secret is having the accompanying need to tell someone. Annabeth almost couldn't bear the need to at least hint to one of her friends as to what she was up to. Sometimes she went over it in her head, thinking about who she could drop a hint to.

Silena? No good. Silena, even though she was a great friend and a good hearted person, she was prone to spreading rumors, and if there was one thing Annabeth didn't need on her hands, it was a sexual rumor about her floating around camp.

Thalia? Nah. Even though she was practically Annabeth's sister, she was still a Hunter, and if she knew about anything having to do with sex, she would probably do something disapproving…like, say, shooting someone.

Rachel? Sure, Rachel would be the best option, but she was off at her funny school, and besides, if any sort of idea was told to her, there was no telling when it would or could be regurgitated as a prophecy. Annabeth shuddered at the thought of that happening. How embarrassing would _that_ be?

So Annabeth sat at Table number six, playing with her food, and decided to keep her secret to herself, no matter how fun or interesting or dangerous it was. But, she remembered, it wasn't as dangerous as the first time. The first time, they were both still in their wrinkled party clothes, and anyone with half a brain who saw them must have had suspicions.

_That was why Percy didn't_. Annabeth thought with a small trace of humor. _Seaweed Brain._

But now they looked out for each other, they made sure that when they walked back into the bustling areas of camp no one would take a second look. She always had to rebutton his shirt when he started buttoning from the top, resulting in an inevitable awkward look, and he made sure that the weird mess of a hairdo he gave her was hastily combed down.

Did she feel bad about it? Of course she did. Anyone who was supposed to be one half of the camp's resident celebrity couple but was actually sleeping with their best friend would feel remorse.

It also didn't help that the Kronos-free Luke had hit it off unexpectedly well with Percy. No one saw that curveball coming. It possibly started that day in November when Nico ran through camp, yelling that he was seeing dead people. Of course, no one really paid him that much attention; Nico was wont to see dead people often. However, when Charles Beckendorf appeared at the top of the hill, leading a group of other dearly-departed friends, people took Nico seriously. Campers started streaming out of the cabins, welcoming their siblings and friends back home, and Annabeth saw Luke and threw herself on him.

At the time, she thought she was welcoming back a good friend, a protector. She didn't think he'd have her in bed with him within two years.

Ha. Was she ever wrong.

She realized that she was still playing with her breakfast when someone sat down next to her and pulled her fork out of her hand.

"Hey, Doll. Breakfast's over." Luke said, smiling down at her.

"I haven't finished eating." She informed him, reaching for her fork.

"I have an idea." Luke switched topics, twirling the fork in one hand like a baton. "How about we take a walk, and we'll be back in time for lunch." He leaned in closer. "Percy randomly volunteered to take my sword fighting class. Go figure."

"What time is it?"

"We have time, trust me."

"Alright, let's take that walk." Annabeth got up from the table and, dumping her uneaten food in the garbage, she and Luke started off on their walk.

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When Chiron entered the arena where Luke and Percy were sparring and told Luke that someone was waiting for him right outside the border of camp and they wanted to see him, Luke didn't expect it to be anyone scary. The first thought was that it was his mother, restored to relative sanity and asking him when he was going to visit. The next thought was that it was a random visit from his dad. However, when he stepped past Thalia's Tree and was met by a tall, blond man with an aviator's cap with an old timey airplane parked next to him, Luke wished he had let Percy get that parry-repost to the heart.

"You're Dr. Chase, right?" He asked tentatively as he gripped his practice sword.

"That would be me." He sized Luke up. "And you're Luke Castellan?"

"Yes, Sir." Luke said, the 'sir' slipping out unconsciously. He stood stock still as Dr. Chase peered at him with narrowed eyes.

"Humph." Dr. Chase had a look on his face that said something like, _I came all this way for this?_

"Is there something I can help you with?" Luke tried another time to make a conversation. "I can go get Annabeth for you if you want-"

"No. No, I'll see her later." Dr. Chase took another big step closer to Luke, who took a nervous swallow but had to use all of his not inconsiderable willpower to stay in one place.

For one absurd moment, Luke wondered if Dr. Chase could read minds through people's eyes.

"Alright, thank you for talking." Dr. Chase said, turning away from Luke, who wanted to say something about how they almost didn't talk at all, but instead he ran as fast as he could back to the arena, where Percy was whaling on a couple straw dummies while Grover sat on a bench, munching on a tin can. Luke, shaken from his extremely random and rather oddly cryptic encounter, sat down next to Grover, who looked at him guiltily.

"What did he ask?" Grover whispered. Luke shrugged. "Did he hurt you?"

"Nah, he just-wait." Luke turned to look Grover straight in the eye. "What do you mean, did he hurt me? Why would he?"

"Oh, no reason." Grover looked away from Luke's glare.

"Grover-"

"Oh alright, alright." Grover jumped up. Percy looked over.

"Is everything okay over there?" He called. Grover nodded a bit too enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's okay. We'll be going, leave you to your practice." Grover pulled on Luke's shirt. "Come on." He whispered. Luke dumbly followed the satyr out of the arena.

"Grover, just tell me what's going on."

"Keep your voice down, for Zeus's sake!" Grover looked around nervously. "Okay, so I may or may not have told Dr. Chase that you were someone he should keep his eye on."

"What? Why? Grover, where did this come from?" Luke tried his best to look shocked and confused, but Grover saw through it.

"Come on man, are you forgetting something? Satyrs can read emotions, can we not?" Grover looked at Luke like he would look at a child who forgot a lunch bag at school for the tenth time in a week. "Your emotions have been in racy territory for the past…oh, month or so."

"Fuck." Luke whispered, face palming.

"Yeah, I assume that's what you've been doing." Grover muttered. Luke gave him a dark look.

"So what? You draw conclusions, and the next thing I know I have Dr. Chase breathing down my neck?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, girls have emotions too." Grover gave Luke a disapproving look that Luke didn't even know Grover was capable of. "Annabeth's hormones. Off the proverbial charts, man." Grover shook his head.

"And Percy?" Luke glanced back at the arena. "You're his best bud. Does he-"

"Well I may be his best bud, but I've known you and Annabeth longer, and well…you and her are so awkward around each other these days that if he doesn't know, he doesn't deserve to know." Grover winced. "But I do feel like I should tell him."

"Don't." Luke said roughly, his face still in his hand. "Please don't."

"I won't, but only because I know that Annabeth would be a whirlwind from hell…or worse."

"But why tell Dr. Chase? You know that Annabeth's smart enough…and-" Luke paused. "You didn't think I hurt her, did you? Come _on_ Grover! Look at me. What color are my eyes?"

"Blue."

"Do I _act_ like I'm still playing host to Mr. Evil-Time-Lord?"

"No."

"So why call the Doc?" Luke sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. So you're looking out for her. Just like the rest of us. I'm sorry."

"Yeah…I'm sorry too." The two of them stood there in silence for several seconds before Luke turned back to the arena.

"I'm going to train with Percy." He announced. "We talked about…his Christmas gift, if he wants to know."

"You're going to have to get him something good, then."

"I know."

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**Parry-repost is a fencing term, basically Luke just wishes Percy killed him earlier. Um…Grover is a little OOC…but I think he's okay. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know. Thanks.**


	4. Bonus Mini Chapter

**Don'townPJO.**

**Here you are, it's really short chapter, like a bonus mini-chapter, not much happens, but I thought that Dr. Chase should hang around longer since he flew all the way there. **

**Did I scare any of you with the previous chapter title? No? Shucks. But that does bring up the Big Question and you should all head over to my profile and votevotevote.**

**Age Problem: Apparently this is confusing, so I thought I'd post it:**

**Thalia is still in the hunters, so she'd be fifteen perpetually. Luke and Annabeth are seven years apart, and I have her in my story as a seventeen year old, making Luke twenty four.**

**Okay? Okay.**

**And again**: **Don't complain because of the pairing. If you don't like Lukabeth, don't read this. It's blatantly Lukabeth, and if you can't tell, I have a list of doctors I can recommend to you. Also, I'd appreciate it if you corrected your spelling and the like before you reviewed.**

**If you want Percabeth, write your **_**own**_** story. I'm not a fan.**

**Also, I do make sure all of my ages, facts, etc. are correct, so unless you find a spelling error, I would appreciate you staying out of that area. There will obviously be some canonical changes, and if you're reading this fanfiction, then you should be able to tell what is canonical in my story and what isn't. So deal.**

**Thanks for reading, sorry if I come off as rude, I'm just being honest.**

**Enjoy.**

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There was a time when every father had to watch out for his daughter, and to each his own. Some just gave a serious talk. Some did standup comedy. Some broke out guns. And some flew in tiny planes across the country just to see if there was a possibility the rumors were true.

_There must be something wrong with me._ Dr. Chase thought ruefully as he sipped the tasteless black coffee from the hotel's continental breakfast bar. _But I do trust Grover. He's an honest…satyr._

If that…young…man-goat was anything to go by, Dr. Chase certainly had a problem, in the form of a blond twenty-something year old.

Dr. Chase had a previously planned meeting with Chiron that morning in the hotel's breakfast room, and he was so anxious that he knew he was subconsciously looking down at his watch and that he was also subconsciously counting the seconds and that he subconsciously knew Chiron was seventeen precious seconds late.

_I need to stop monitoring people and their tardiness._

Soon, a bearded man in a motorized wheelchair entered the room and Dr. Chase pulled away the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"Dr. Fredrick Chase?"

"That's me. And you're Chiron."

"Yes, yes, I'm Chiron. I think we met once or twice."

"I have a problem involving my daughter." Dr. Chase got straight to the point.

"It's always about the child." Chiron smiled and shook his head. Dr. Chase showed no such emotion. He fidgeted with his pencil.

"Has she been acting…out of the ordinary lately?"

"Out of the ordinary in what sense? She's still tutoring other campers, still training…still planning all of the strategies for our capture the flag games." Chiron racked his brain to think of something that Annabeth had done recently that was unusual for her.

"Out of the ordinary in the sense that she might be romantically involved with someone."

"Well, definitely." Chiron smiled nervously. "Surely she's told you she's dating Percy Jackson."

"Anyone else?" Dr. Chase wanted to know.

"What do you mean, anyone else? I assume she's only dating Percy. Your daughter is a level headed girl. I assume she gets it from you as well as her mother. Are you worried about her?"

"I was warned by Grover Underwood that she might be making some bad choices. Bad choices involving a certain young man by the name of Luke Castellan." Dr. Chase peered at Chiron, watching for any signs of recognition.

"Luke Castellan?"

"That's what I said."

"He's the one you met the other day." Chiron pointed out. Dr. Chase ignored this.

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Well, he's a good kid, sometimes he's a bit of a troublemaker. He…well, he was possessed by the Titan Lord Kronos, but don't worry, he sacrificed himself in the end, and-"

"Sacrificed himself? That implies dying."

"He did. Die, I mean." Chiron leaned forward. "He died right in the middle of the Mount Olympus Throne Room; died a true hero. His father lobbied along with some of the other gods to bring back the fallen heroes from the war, and he's back at camp."

"What is his relationship to my daughter?" Dr. Chase pressed on. Chiron looked taken aback.

"Why, I assume they're still very good friends. He was one of the two others who found Annabeth when she first…ah…left home. They look out for each other."

"And there's nothing to suggest otherwise? Nothing that implies a closer connection?"

"What have you heard?"

"What have _you_ heard?"

The two of them stared at each other, each waiting for the other to say something interesting or revelatory. Dr. Chase fiddled with his pencil.

"I heard from Grover Underwood that I needed to look out, that Luke was causing problems. Are you completely, undeniably, totally sure that absolutely nothing is going on?" Dr. Chase gave Chiron his best interrogator face. Chiron thought hard, and his mind landed on that late August morning.

"Well, there was one morning this past August. A camper expressed some concern about camper counselor relationships."

SNAP.

Chiron saw that Dr. Chase had broken the pencil he was holding.

"And what, may I ask, is the punishment for killing a counselor?"

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**Thanks for reading. Please vote and please still like me. DX**


	5. Battlefield

**I don't own PJO. If I did, well…let's just leave that as an open thought.**

**I'm so happy that some people who explicitly support Percabeth are reading and appreciating this. I'm flattered that you can tolerate me! **bows****

**I'm also checking my hits and ninety eight hits vs. one review doesn't really add up. I love you guys, and I know you're out there. **creepy smile****

**I know. I'm a whore for reviews, but don't they make **_**you**_** happy too?**

**I knew they did.**

**I'd also like a few more votes on my poll, so if you would sacrifice a couple seconds of your precious time, it would be greatly appreciated. You will get virtual cookies.**

**I know you all love virtual cookies.**

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The Throne Room of Olympus was a verifiable battlefield. Zeus and Hera argued. Apollo and Artemis argued. Athena and Poseidon argued. But today, Hermes was getting an earful from Aphrodite.

"Aphrodite, quite frankly, this isn't my fault, and if you would just take your complaints to dad, then I think you'd see that this is all just a big misunderstanding." Hermes said, uninterested, as he tried to dodge around Aphrodite and duck out of the room. She stood, firmly planted in his way, with a look on her face that she only got before she started a large war or a high school vendetta.

"Um, no, I think it is your fault. You had to lobby to Uncle Hades about calling back all of the fallen heroes in the last war, and that happened to include your good-for-nothing son."

"He isn't good for nothing! He's quite useful. He teaches, and he's funny, and he's a good friend."

"He's ruining my story!" Aphrodite nearly screamed. "I set this up so carefully; I have been making sure that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were the next Romeo and Juliet-"

"Well, then you have my son to thank. No one dies."

"He's breaking up the dream couple. No, scratch that. He has _already_ broken up the dream couple."

"It's your own fault." Hermes pointed out. Aphrodite looked livid.

"And how…how is it my own fault?" She asked with false calm.

"Your son, Eros. You were the one who told him to shoot the Chase girl all those years ago with some infatuation arrow."

"What about the Chase girl?" Another voice asked from across the room. Hermes winced as Athena appeared at the other end of the room. "What?" She asked as she saw their dumbstruck expressions. "I'm just a concerned mother."

"Concerned mother my perfect ass!" Aphrodite shouted, which only caused Athena's eyes to burn and her light green t-shirt to melt into something that more resembled armor than clothing. However, Aphrodite just pushed on. "You were all involved and angry and protective when I was campaigning for Percy Jackson, and they were just in a sweet, awkward teenage romance. But now that she's actually seriously involved in a real relationship, with an older man, no less, you appear like you couldn't care less."

"The only factor I didn't like in the Perseus issue was that he was just that; Perseus Jackson."

"What's wrong with that?" Aphrodite asked. "They've been through so much together. They've known each other for so long-"

"Uh, if we're going to factor in how long people have known each other, I think my son has priority." Hermes cut in.

"Whatever."

"However," Athena continued. "I have nothing against Luke Castellan's father."

"Thanks, sis." Hermes muttered.

"I just can't stand this. Percy and Annabeth…they _belong_ together." Aphrodite insisted.

"This is neither a soap opera nor a chick flick nor a Taylor Swift song." Hermes complained. "Things are how they are, Aphrodite. I'm going back to work." He slipped around the angry goddess and walked away, tapping on his cell phone.

"You…it's your fault too!" Aphrodite rounded on Athena, who simply looked at her passively. "Don't you care?"

"I don't think now is the time to discuss the problem. I will look into it on my own time." Athena said coolly.

"Why won't anyone take my side?" Aphrodite grumbled. "I bet Ares will." She stormed prettily out of the throne room, where Athena was left, glaring, although she wasn't sure at what.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The day Annabeth got a hint that someone was suspicious about her private life was the day that she looked to the hill and saw Thalia's tree and Thalia standing next to it. At the time, Annabeth was happy that Thalia had taken some time off of her eternal sorority to visit her friend.

"Hey, Annabeth! How's it going? Life without Titan lords trying to kill you? Good?"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." Annabeth shrugged as they headed to the dining pavilion to chat. "Kind of boring, though."

"Ha. Only you would think that." Thalia snorted.

"No, no. Percy and Luke have the same attitude."

"They would." Thalia shook her head. "Quite frankly, I'm damn glad that everything's over. Now instead of fighting monsters and going on quests to free Artemis we can actually free girls from society and go on hunting trips."

"Free girls from society. I like that." Annabeth said contemplatively. "Now, I bet you didn't just take a holiday to visit me. What's the purpose of the visit?" She asked and immediately wished she hadn't. Thalia looked down at the table.

"Um…well, this isn't a holiday for me, to tell you the truth." She admitted bashfully. "Artemis told me to come to talk to you."

"What's up?" Annabeth asked, confused. Thalia took a deep breath.

"We wanted to know what caused your sudden and, might I say random, disqualification from the Hunters of Artemis."

"Oh that." Annabeth choked a little on her own spit. "Uh, yeah…I just…decided it wasn't for me. And you know, there's that thing that disqualifies you…like if over…what percent?"

"Seventy percent."

"Yeah, isn't it if seventy percent of your friends are boys then you're automatically out?"

"Yes, but that would have crossed you off a long time ago. You hang out with Percy, Luke, Grover, Nico, Ethan."

"Um…I think I might have told someone that I wasn't ever going to join, but doesn't having a boyfriend check you off anyway?"

"Nah." Thalia shook her head. "Because if he breaks your heart, you should still be able to join, plus lots of girls have boyfriends in like, fifth grade." Thalia rolled her eyes. "So what really disqualified you? I mean, I'll understand if it's something like, you were buzzed or sleep talking and you swore never to join, but…I know you know. This whole innocent thing doesn't work on you."

"Hey, is that Thalia I see?" Someone yelled from across the camp. Annabeth mentally cursed.

_Talk about bad timing, Luke. Damnit._

"Hi Luke! How's life again?" She asked. Luke laughed and ran to join them at the table.

"Can I sit here and talk, or will that get me shot?" He asked, pointing at the bow. Thalia shook her head.

"It's fine, just as long as you don't touch me."

"Uh…what about a handshake?"

"Okay, that's fine." Thalia reached across the table and shook the offered hand.

"So, how are things going?" Luke asked, playing with a water bottle.

"Oh, not bad." Thalia shrugged. Luke took a drink of water, nodding. "I just wanted to know why Annabeth here got herself checked off the Hunters list." She shook her head.

And Luke sprayed his mouthful of water all over the table and Thalia, who sat there, shocked.

"How's the Hunters?" He immediately asked conversationally. Thalia shook her head.

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. You did _not._" She mumbled, horrified. Luke looked around.

"I didn't do what?" He asked. Annabeth silently thanked her lucky stars that he was a good actor. However, it didn't seem to be working against Thalia, who was almost beside herself.

"Damnit Luke, I thought you had…more…self control than this!"

"Whoa, Thalia, what are you talking about?" Luke raised his hands in surrender.

"You know fucking well what I'm talking about, Mister. Annabeth's been disqualified from the Hunters, and you are about as guilty as a kid with his hand in the cookie jar." Thalia sighed. "It's your fault. I know it is. You're the reason she can't join."

"Was she planning on joining?" Luke wondered.

"Well…no, but-"

"So there's no problem." Luke pointed out.

"She's _seventeen_."

"Well _sorry._ But we aren't hurting anyone."

"So, you're going for, 'if they don't know it can't hurt them', in regards to Percy?" Thalia asked angrily.

"What kind of problems do you have with that? You're a hunter, you shouldn't care." Luke stood up. Thalia followed suit.

"Well," She said mockingly. "When you get her pregnant, do call me. I'd like to visit again."

"Then I guess we'd better say goodbye now; because in case you didn't notice, Annabeth's smart enough to stay safe…and she'll watch out for me. She always has." Luke sighed. "You can't stay mad at me that long, Thalia. You forgave me pretty quickly when I came back from hosting Kronos and killing people."

"We'll see, Luke." Thalia shook her head. "I'll have to tell Artemis the truth, though, and she won't be happy. She wanted Annabeth in the ranks; and she is not a goddess you want after your blood."

"What, you don't think I'd make a good jackalope?" Luke joked.

"I'm not fucking around here." Thalia glared daggers at Luke before hoisting her quiver and bow back onto her shoulder. "If you get a… notice from Artemis or another hunter, don't be surprised." And with that, Thalia marched up the hill. Annabeth could tell that she was trying to be as angry as possible, and she knew it was hard for her.

"Bye, Thalia." Annabeth called. Thalia paused by her tree and turned back to look at them.

"Bye. I-I'll visit again. I'll try to be Artemis's camp correspondent as much as possible. Love you guys."

"Oh, she tries to be angry." Luke muttered as Thalia disappeared over the hill.

"Do you understand how bad this is?" Annabeth hissed.

"Yeah, we ticked Thalia off."

"She's going to tell Artemis; she has to. And then who knows what will happen? Our parents will know,"

"Psh. Our parents already know. I know my dad knows, and your mom knows everything." Luke pointed out. Annabeth put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Don't remind me. I'm just waiting for my mother to actually get around to addressing this problem."

"Problem? How is it a problem? Have I done something wrong?" Luke asked, bewildered. Annabeth sighed and looked up at him.

"How much time do we have before dinner?" She asked.

"Why do you want to know….oh." Luke smiled and gave her one of those fantastic kisses before pulling her towards their favorite room in the Big House.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

**This was a lethargic kind of chapter. Ug, it bothers me that they always solve things by having sex. Ah well, they're OOC. They can do whatever they want.**

**Although I do hate it when characters do things without my permission. Grrr…**

**If you please, review, vote, suggest. I would greatly appreciate.**


	6. Party Time

**Hi!**

**I don't own Percy Jackson. Like you didn't know that.**

**This chapter is clichéd, annoying, silly, and definitely moves my plot along.**

**For anyone who ever wanted some really awkward, uncomfortable drunken Luke scenes, here ye be.**

**Okay, so this chapter is partially told through text messages, which I think needs to be done. If you really have problems, like, rabid problems, I will write an alternate chapter in which Rachel and Percy talk face to face. The text messages are nicely broken up with actual story, so I hope it's all okay.**

**This chapter was largely written by JoyBuck. She gets Percy's inner voice quite well, I do believe, as well as "uninhibited" dialogue.**

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Mr. D, with all due respect, are you sure that's what your father said?"

"Of course, horse-man. I was there, listening, unfortunately. He said that I've done such a good job running this little camp that I'm allowed one day. One day, horse-man. Do you really think that's enough? It's not enough."

"Mr. D, think of the campers."

"Oh, come on. They've already been to parties at Olympus. There have been some parties here too, like that one last August at the anniversary of that little war. That had alcohol."

"Mr. D, I can't have you condoning alcohol to teenagers."

"Chiron. I'm the wine god. I have to condone alcohol."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

I have decided that I, Percy Jackson, do not like or fit in at parties. So when Mr. D got permission to throw one at camp, I ended up with a glass of some sort of liquor, and then I tried to find an empty seat somewhere. The first place I found one was next to Luke, the Stoll brothers, and Chris and Clarisse, who were busy making out and therefore didn't care that I was in the room.

"Luke? How drunk are you?" I shoved him aside and sat down on the bench next to him.

"How drunk are YOU, Percy? Huh?" He asked, slurring his words. I shrugged, looking at the glass in my hand that was still half full of…something.

"Did you really have to go after that keg by yourself?" I shook my head at him. He shoved me, rolling his eyes.

"I didn't drink the _whole_ thing…" He protested.

"Yeah, that's right," I nodded. "I forgot that you used the rest to douse three Aphrodite girls and make them smell like booze."

"Yeah, well they're bitches." Luke grumbled, sloshing some of his drink on my shoes.

"Except for Silena, you know."

"Yeah, but the rest of them are bitches." He reiterated.

"Since when is that new?" I asked drily.

"Since they were bitches to Annabeth. Nobody messes with Annabeth."

"She seems to be able to handle it fine to me." I shrugged. Annabeth was perfectly capable of taking care of herself…

"Nobody screws with my Annabeth!" Luke shouted as he hit the wall behind him with the flat of his palm. I was taken aback a little, to say the least.

"YOUR Annabeth? Dude, she's _my_ girlfriend!" I looked down at the glass in his lap and started to pull it away from him. "I think you've had enough to drink."

"You're a punk." Luke said suddenly as I wrestled the glass out of his hand.

"What?"

"You're a punk." He repeated.

"Come on, man. You already said that."

"You really have no clue I did your girlfriend, do you?" He wondered. I stared at him.

"Repeat that? I swear I heard you say you slept with Annabeth."

"I didn't _sleep _with her- I had sex with her. Dude- are you a dumbass or something?"

"…What?"

"I tell you, man. There was no sleeping involved." Luke laughed and shook his head vigorously as though clearing it. "Whoo!"

"My mind tells me that even though you might be lying or hallucinating, I should probably challenge you to a sword fight."

"Bring it on, buddy. Let's go."

"Uhm…I didn't mean _right now_. Maybe when you're a bit more…sober."

"Nah, let's fight now."

"No, I really think you should wait-" I tried to calm him down, but he stood up, knocking over one of the Stoll brothers, although I couldn't tell which one.

"Where are you guys going?" Asked the remaining brother.

"Sword fighting! In the forest! It's gonna be totally wicked!" Luke grinned from ear to ear and pushed me out of whatever cabin we had been in. The two Stoll brothers followed us.

I wasn't so sure how this would turn out. Luke was an excellent swordsman, just like rain was wet and it was cold in the arctic, but I wasn't sure how he would perform while totally sloshed. I expected that he'd be uncoordinated and at least a little unskilled. I didn't expect that he'd be like those people that can _only_ say the alphabet backwards when they're drunk.

Which was not that great for me.

He came at me swinging a bronze practice sword like he was some sort of super-destructive tornado-blender hybrid, which, needless to say, was a bit frightening. It jolted me awake and I went into my extreme-defense mode.

Ah, there's nothing like an intoxicated, murderous best friend to wake you up.

I swung and slashed and jabbed and parried and remissed like my life depended on it, which it would have, if I hadn't been under that Achilles Curse whatnot. I quickly relaxed once I remembered this and focused on not actually maiming Luke.

However, he was getting some cuts on me that were tearing slits in my sleeves, and I swung at his unprotected left arm and gave him a good sized cut.

"Whoa." I stopped. "Sorry about your arm, that…I…I didn't mean for it to be that harsh. Alright, good fight. You should probably get that looked at-whoa!" I dodged Luke's next swing that generated a breeze that blew through my hair. What was up with this? I checked his eyes in what little light there was.

Clearly blue.

The expression on his face?

Confusion mixed with giddiness.

Then what was going on?

"Hey, Percy, if you want to stop, we can pick it up later." He said, completely ignoring the viciously bleeding wound on his arm.

Alcohol dulls the pain. Right.

So I focused on not getting hit at all, and let me tell you, it was difficult.

In the end, my sleeves were basically ribbons, Luke was a slightly bloody mess, and we decided to stop.

Well, the Stoll brothers decided we should stop after they saw the slash I put across Luke's chest, even though he was still totally raring to go.

He passed out soon after. From the blood loss or the beer, we couldn't tell.

"What were you two fighting about?" Connor asked me later.

"Oh, um…I'm not really sure. I mean, he said something really random, and then I said that I should fight him if it was true, and then we did. It was just a joke, really."

"Yeah, whatever." Travis shook his head. "Are you sure it's done?"

"Yeah. What he said probably wasn't even true." I tried to convince myself. "He was pretty blasted." But still, I had to make sure.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, redheaded oracle, felt her new, top of the line phone vibrate in her skirt. She slipped it out of her pocket and pressed the 'read message' button.

_New Text From: Percy Cell_

_Best frnd got drunk told me hes been fucking my gf. Why did I not know this._

Rachel didn't even hear the teacher call her name for attention to the board. She just stared awkwardly at the phone's screen, and thought about something sensitive, yet based in reality to tell him.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare!" Her English teacher shrieked. "Please pay attention to class and sit like a lady! Legs together, back straight-"

"Ankles crossed, chin up." Rachel finished in a monotonous drone. "I know, Miss Yoshi."

"Then please obey by those standards."

"Sorry." Rachel murmured.

_Reply message to Percy Cell:_

_R u sure? U said he was drunk. Could be lying_

_New Text from: Percy Cell_

_He doesnt get drunk like that. Trust me. He's usuly a filosoficl* drunk._

Quite frankly, Rachel had mixed feelings about the whole thing. If Annabeth was going to sleep with…wait…who was Percy's best friend again?

_Reply message to: Percy Cell_

_Who was this best friend anyway?_

_New Text From: Percy Cell_

_Luke. D:_

_Dude its not ok. I know I wasnt the best bf, right. But hes 7 yrs older than her._

_thats wrong man. Just wrong. _

_Im not ok with this_

_Like realy. Not ok_

Rachel tried to think about this problem rationally. If Annabeth really was cheating on Percy, which Rachel seriously doubted, then Percy was going to need some emotional support, and Rachel, well, she was always there-

No. No. There was that eternal maiden clause she had to remember, she scolded herself.

_Reply Message to Percy Cell_

_I seriously doubt that this happened. How much did Luke drink?_

_New Text from: Percy Cell_

_Ok so he drank like a hole keg_

_Reply Message to Percy Cell_

_Well there you go. Don't worry about it. Well, unless more evidence comes up. I mean, you ever watch CSI? You need evidence. Hard, cold evidence; and drunken confessions aren't worth much._

_New Text from: Percy Cell_

_Alright fine if I find anything ill tell u. I think ill ask Annabeth_

_Reply Message to Percy Cell_

_Oh yeah, just ask her, 'hey are u sleeping with my friend?' bad idea, Percy, bad idea._

Rachel shook her head and put her phone back in her pocket.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**Thanks for sticking through that. For anyone wondering, **

_*philosophical _

**Yeah. Stay tuned, m'dears. I'm not getting any Percy suggestions...*hint hint***


End file.
